The Race Around Rwanda is a 1,000km self-supported bikepacking race circumnavigating throughout the central African country of Rwanda. With a cap of 135 riders, this relatively new race has already caught the attention of some of the biggest names from the bikepacking world. UnTapped co-founder Ted King dipped his toe back into bikepacking with a very successful go at this challenging race through the “Land of 1,000 Hills”.
Congratulations and welcome home! What were you anticipating going into the Race Around Rwanda?
Thank you! With a bit of shell-shock, it’s really nice to be back even if that means lots of time shoveling snow.
I went into Race Around Rwanda looking forward to riding a challenging 620 miles in a place that’s entirely new to me. Boil it down to the simplest answer and that’s pretty much it. My experience at bikepacking events is brief but it runs the gamut. I can count the number of events I’ve done on one hand. I’ve won, I’ve set a Fastest Know Time, and I’ve ended my time out there early with a scratch/DNF next to my name. With that kind of spread, and especially being an early season event, I was looking to temper my personal expectations on the softer side so that anything above that I could take away as a positive.
Specifically I anticipated lots of heat and humidity. I knew it was hilly, but when you see “Land of 1,000 Hills” emblazoned at the airport on arrival, it’s a safe bet that it’s going to be a tough route. Often lining up in a bikepacking race, I’ll recognize just a few names on the start line and with my fellow World Tour alumni Laurens Ten Dam and Thomas Dekker were there, I knew there was a fun battle in store.
It’s almost a tenet of bikepacking, just anticipating being comfortable being uncomfortable – or at least being outside your comfort zone.
Packing light!
How did your expectations square with reality?
Now with the benefit of hindsight, I call the week a huge success! You never know what’ll happen in a bikepacking race. For example, I’ve seen friends who have invested so much and traveled to the other side of the world like a trip to Rwanda and find themselves sick on the start line. I talked to one guy the day before the race who was coming in from Germany and his bike was delayed and not going to arrive until after the start. My friend Laurens crashed and broke his wheel, causing his race to be derailed in a big way. In fact, that is one reason my final margin of victory was large, LTD was in a close second place at the time and suddenly he was out of contention. Similarly, the guy in third place suffered a mechanical and that stopped him dead in his tracks for hours. The takeaway in this race and frankly any ultra event is that a fast ride is a smooth ride, and there are no guarantees that everything – your body, your bike, your health – will hold up.
Across the board, things just went really smoothly and I achieved what I set out to do. Specifically I wanted to log an enormous training “week” over the course of just two to three days, check. I wanted to see and experience new things, meet new people who share the love of riding, racing, and adventure, check. I wanted to be taken out of my comfort zone and see how I performed and I’m thrilled with how it all shook out, check!
There are folks who believe you create your own luck. I’m the kind of person who crosses my t’s and dots my i’s, but there are still so many things out of your control, like if the airlines will deliver your bike, that I’d argue it’s a fair mix of both. True luck and manufactured luck.
Naturally, we’re interested in nutrition. What were you consuming over these 57 hours?
We were told that there are small towns and villages that we’ll frequently pass through during the race and those would be our refueling zones. As anticipated, it’s not like passing through middle America or small-town Europe with gas stations, supermarkets, and convenience stores. These Rwandan stores are literally the front room to someone’s house. As a customer, your duck your head in the front door and there’s immediately a desk to check out and whatever is being sold is adorned throughout the small room. You just point at the crackers, cookies, soda, and water (my general go-to in this situation) and they grab them and place them on the desk. Another factor, you’re not going to stumble on any 24 hour general stores anywhere in the country, so between the hours of about 8pm and 8am, hopefully you’ve packed enough to keep you going. Given that modern day nutrition is heavy on the messaging that athletes need 90 to 150 grams of carbohydrates per hour while exercising, this is a noteworthy challenge to even carry this much nutrition, let alone get your hands on it!
Taking one step back, I departed the US with 30 UnTapped energy gels. I cobbled together a mix of our Salted variety, some Coffee for the overnight caffeine boost, plus plenty of original Maple UnTapped. Come to think of it, it was kind of like taking six variety packs. This quantity is not simple in a sport that favors packing lean and light, but I’m thrilled with how well I spaced out the use of those packets throughout my ride and how conveniently they delivered energy right when I needed a pick-me-up.
A brief snack stop with Laurens
On a bit on a whim, I bought a Tupperware container the night before the race and had packed one of those 8” camping sporks for my trip. I didn’t know how much I’d use that, but it ended up coming in really handy because the four checkpoints offered up a buffet of pasta, rice, chicken, and steak, so I’d pack a few thousand calories of pasta and rice, a bit of protein from chicken and be on my way. Fast-forward five or eight hours from when I departed that last check point, when things were getting tough, I’d pull over and have a meal of real food which warms the soul.
I finished right around lunch time on the third day and was welcomed back with an enormous double decker hamburger, fries, and refreshing beer. I put that away with ease!
So are you going back? What’s next Ted?
Bikepacking is one heck of a physical undertaking, but I argue it’s equally a mental test. I like an event like RAR because I knew that no matter how fast or slow I’m going, it’s going to be over fairly soon. That is to say, Rwanda is a relative sprint at 600 miles. Compare that to something like Tour Divide’s 2,800 miles, it’s hard to get your head wrapped around ever making progress when you’re in the heat of the moment with 2,000-some odd miles to go.
Even in “short” races there are moments of elation and plenty of low points where I was asking myself, “Why on earth did I sign up for this?” But now that I’ve finished and settled in back at home in snowy Vermont, resumed life of chores and running errands and parenting and work and taking my kids to play in the snow, it feels like a lifetime ago. My whole point being, yes, going back to Rwanda and figuring out ways to go even faster is just the way I’m wired!
Up next is more of this acclimatization at home. I have a training camp in some warm weather in a few weeks and by early next month I’m already full gas into traditional gravel races. MidSouth is one of my favorite races and is an unofficial kick off to the nation-wide US season. UnTapped will be there, so we’re all looking forward to seeing the greater North American cycling community.
Above photo: Manu Cattrysse